Taiwan recently cracked down on a major illegal online gambling and money laundering case, with 35 people indicted and the funds involved exceeding 30.6 billion New Taiwan dollars (about 975 million US dollars); at the same time, although the British horse racing industry avoided direct taxation, it faced a significant increase in remote gambling taxes, leading to a reduction in operator investments and pressure on business models, an implicit crisis. One is a severe crackdown on illegal activities, and the other is a policy impact on a legal industry, together outlining the governance and development landscape of the global gambling field. Relevant compliance cases and industry governance references can be found on the PASA official website.
Taiwan Illegal Gambling Case: 975 Million USD Involved, 35 People Prosecuted
This case highlights the characteristics of illegal gambling using financial technology to evade regulation, with unprecedented enforcement:
Core Case Details and Operation Mode
Main Culprit and Platform: A 41-year-old man surnamed Luo is the key figure, who in 2020 acquired the source code for a payment platform, creating HeroPay and MatchPay, two major payment tools used to conceal the flow of gambling funds;
Business Expansion: In June 2022, launched its own gambling website "Rich 11," offering services such as baccarat, slot machines, and sports betting, with HeroPay as the main payment channel;
Fund Scale: From July 2021 to September 2025, the total funds involved amounted to 30.695 billion New Taiwan dollars, covering funds from its own website and providing payment services for other illegal platforms, some of which were invested in restaurants and other cover businesses.
Charges and Enforcement Background
Charges and Sentencing: The 35 defendants were charged with organized crime, money laundering, and illegal online gambling, with the main culprit Mr. Luo facing a sentence of 9 years and 6 months, and Ms. Huang, responsible for financial administration, facing over 6 years;
Legal Upgrades: In June 2025, Taiwan amended its laws, making manipulation of sports betting results punishable by 7 years to life imprisonment, highlighting zero tolerance for illegal gambling;
Regulatory Focus: The case focuses on the "fund transfer system," targeting not only gambling websites but also the payment intermediaries behind them, blocking illegal financial chains.
UK Horse Racing: Avoids Direct Taxation, Suffers Indirect Impact
In the UK's 2025 budget, the horse racing betting tax rate remains unchanged at 15%, but overall gambling tax reform triggers a chain reaction:
Hidden Damage of Tax Reform
Core Tax Rate Adjustment: Remote gambling tax soared from 21% to 40%, non-horse racing sports betting tax from 15% to 25%, squeezing gambling operators' profits;
Operators Reduce Investments: Horse racing betting, subject to multiple taxes (gambling tax, responsible gambling tax, special horse racing tax), becomes a "high-cost product," with operators cutting marketing and sponsorship budgets, shifting to more profitable casino operations;
Role Transformation of Horse Racing: From profit core to "traffic tool," used only to attract new users, no longer a profit center, benefits such as best odds guarantees are reduced.
Industry Dilemmas and Risks
Business Model Dysfunction: Depending on operators' turnover sharing model creates a vicious cycle of "more promotion, more fees," needing to shift to net gambling revenue (NGR) sharing;
Black Market and Internal Conflicts: Last year, about 1.5 billion pounds of horse racing bets flowed to the black market, high tax rates may exacerbate capital outflow; during lobbying, horse racing and gambling merchants developed rifts over tax issues;
Retail Business Hard to Save: Although offline betting remains stable, the cancellation of tax advantages and minimum wage increases add costs, unable to offset the shrinkage of online investments.
Industry Observation: Dual Logic of Strict Illegal Crackdown and Legal Pressure
The dynamics of the two places reflect different dimensions of gambling industry governance:
Taiwan's enforcement logic: Focuses on the financial chains of illegal gambling, severely punishing payment intermediaries and upgrading laws, curbing illegal activities from the source, protecting financial safety and public interests;
UK's policy dilemma: The initial intention of taxation was to control risks and increase fiscal revenue, but it indirectly impacts the legal industry ecosystem, highlighting the need for policy-making to balance regulation and industry sustainability;
Common Insights: Whether it's illegal crackdowns or legal regulation, compliance is the core baseline, and more references for governance experience and compliant operations can be obtained through the PASA official website.
————
This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders" gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original in-depth gambling channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
Free data reports: @pasa_research
PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
